The EPA releasing the projected 2018 Renewable Volume Requirements for the RFS, and despite other speculation keeps ethanol at 15 billion gallons while calling for a 330 million gallon increase in biodiesel. The reaction from the biofuels industry has been swift and, shall we say, less than positive. Here's a sampling:
POET Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Communications Kyle Gilley:
“Proposed biofuel volumes are meaningless when the EPA continues to hand out waivers to the largest and most profitable companies in the world. The more-than 1.6 billion gallons that have already been waived this year equal a 4 percent drop in the corn grind nationally, devastating for farmers who have faced more than four years of declining farm income and poor crop prices. Administrator Pruitt and the Trump Administration must stand up for farmers, immediately reallocate those lost gallons and cease bailouts to the oil industry.”
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor:
"The EPA proposed 15 billion gallons for conventional biofuels, but that still isn’t a real number we can count on. This plan fails to ensure those gallons will, in fact, be blended. By neglecting to reallocate gallons lost to waivers, the EPA is doubling down on another year of an estimated 1.5 billion gallons in demand destruction.”
Advanced Biofuels Business Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman,
“On its face, the EPA proposal is promising. It reverses last year’s roll back of cellulosic biofuels, and it opens growth opportunities for advanced producers who are establishing new revenue streams for rural America. But until there is some check on the EPA’s abuse of waivers, regulatory uncertainty will continue to threaten investments in advanced biofuels.
“The EPA must demonstrate that targets will not be undercut by refinery handouts. At the same time, Administrator Pruitt must take concrete action on the president’s pledge to open new markets for advanced biofuels by lifting seasonal regulations on E15.
“The RFS supports hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, creates new market opportunities for America’s farmers and innovators, and has attracted billions of dollars of investment in first-of-a-kind technologies in the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry. These fuels are poised to drive the next manufacturing wave across America, but promises won’t get us there. We need action.”
Biotechnology Innovation Organization Executive Vice President Brent Erickson:
“We welcome EPA’s decision to raise the advanced and cellulosic biofuel volumes in its proposal, which will help propel the industry forward in 2019. However, the advanced biofuels industry is still suffering the effects of the Agency’s decision to arbitrarily limit growth for low carbon biofuels in 2018, by setting a backward looking RFS requirement. The 2019 volumes should be higher, to correct from last year and also spur growth for the coming year. EPA’s decision to forgo reallocation of gallons displaced from small refinery waivers at the behest of the petroleum industry is disappointing. In order to ensure a favorable and supportive investment climate for advanced and cellulosic biofuel producers, EPA must reallocate the gallons from the small refinery waivers already issued and into the future.”
Americans for Energy Security and Innovation Co-Chairs Jim Talent and Rick Santorum:
“The targets announced today could promote modest growth in U.S. biofuel production, but not if they are subject to another endless string of EPA waivers. Rural workers and farmers cannot afford another year of demand destruction. The White House must ensure that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt follows the president’s directives by protecting the integrity of conventional biofuel targets, unleashing E15, and accelerating investments in advanced biofuels, like cellulosic ethanol made from corn cobs and stalks.”